Claire tries to keep the identity of the mysterious stranger secret, as Drill gains new recruits…

Once again it’s the Bradbury-based aspects of this story that are the more compelling, as Drill starts to communicate with Henry, tells Harper there’s a way she can save her mother who’s perilously close to death, and sends Minx on a recruiting spree. The recap at the top of the episode suggests that Minx accessed the DoD database to find out what they know about the disappearance and reappearance of Henry’s father’s plane – a plotline that seems to be used more as a background for the triangle between Henry’s mother (FBI agent Claire) and her own parents.

The Mysterious Stranger is now confirmed to be Henry’s father, Sean, who is getting visions while in the shower and seeing weird symbols which he then tattoos on himself. It’s a nice homage to the Illustrated Man source for the book, whose tattoos each told a tale, and makes me hopeful that more of what seemed simply bolted on for the pilot actually has its roots in Bradbury.

I’m hoping that Derek Webster as Claire’s FBI partner starts to get something more to do, and also gets a little quicker on the uptake – does it really take him that length of time to cotton on to the fact that Claire knows all the time that the person they’re chasing seems to be Sean?

Verdict: Not quite as gripping as the opener, this feels as if the producers are still trying to establish what the show’s focus should be – sci-fi or family drama. 7/10